—namely, all the articles upon which you have built the statute of your faith— and we have noticed that when some of you are pressed in debate about this, they respond: “We have found that most religions are riven by internal disputes; their followers split into sundry doctrines, each claiming that the truth lies in his own hand.” Yet this reply itself is but a sign of poor judgment: hearts have strayed from their right course and turned away from the path of truth. For no religious community has ever disagreed about the essence of its deity, doubted it, or voiced divergent opinions concerning its chosen object of worship—save the various sects of Christianity alone. All others have differed only over secondary issues and legal particulars: the Jews, for instance, dispute among themselves about certain festivals and customs, and Muslims differ over predestination—some affirming it, others denying it—or over the relative merit of certain Companions of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. Yet all Muslims are unanimously agreed on their God, their object of worship and Creator: that Allah, the sole deity of all creation, has no partner and no offspring. They are likewise unanimous about their Prophet Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—harbouring no doubt about him, and about the Quran, acknowledging without dispute that it is the Book of Allah revealed to Muhammad, the Messenger. Since their consensus on these fundamentals is firmly established, any disagreement beyond them is merely a peripheral flaw that neither constitutes unbelief nor invalidates the religion.